Thursday, April 19, 2012

I really found it interesting the lack of compassion in the
comments online surrounding the eviction yesterday of a 63 year old woman and a
71 year old man from their house in Killiney.

I don’t know the exact details of the case but personally I
think it’s wrong to evict pensioners. Is that ageist? Foolish idealism? Or just
respect for my elders?

My thinking is whatever the bank or the couple say regarding
the others’ terrible attempts to solve the situation their both probably a
little bit right. Do I suspect the bank would aggressively chase the owners of a valuable property rather than one with
none? Maybe not them give as much room to manoeuvre? Yes I do. Do I think this
couple made bad investments (probably on Anglo’s advice) and mismanaged their
finances? Clearly in hindsight yes they did. They aren’t the only ones.

Does it matter they happen to be seemingly well off?
Everyone else seems to think so. Yes they have other houses worth XYZ however,
they aren’t worth XYZ if no one is buying. While you have someone renting them
at least you can put that money towards their individual mortgages. That doesn’t
give you a place to live or money to pay your own mortgage. Lawfully they could
evict their tenants for a place to live but let’s be honest that’s not good
practice. You know you can live in a big fancy house and still not afford a to heat
it or put food in the fridge.

People have argued they broke the law so it’s fair they were
evicted. Well when you stick to the absolute letter of the law feel free to
throw the first stone. However, if you’ve ever jumped on the luas for just one
stop without paying please go hand yourself in at the nearest Garda Station. Actually
I’m wrong because that’s a criminal act. This particular case wouldn’t of been
seen at the criminal courts because it’s not. It would have been through the commercial
courts hence why Garda was there but didn’t act when the gentleman in question
was manhandled. Myself I’d prefer if Garda’s time was better used then
supervising bailiffs.

At the end of the day these two people worked hard all their
lives and now they are living on the street outside their home. They no doubt over
the years they gave back to their local community, charity and most importantly
to the Irish exchequer. If you’re in 60’s or 70’s this isn’t your first
recession. It’s the hard work of the generations that came before us (I’m 27)
that meant I could get a good education, enjoy a better standard of living and
avail of better opportunities. This generation are still contributing today. I
don’t ever want to take that for granted.

We won’t get out of this recession without common sense and
compassion.